tadepalligudem l sunday l february 5, 2023 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city EDITION China’s spy balloon likely guided by A.I., says Expert The balloon spotted over US seems to have advanced steering technologies, an expert on spy balloons said may remain over U.S. for few more days Second one spotted over latin america The Pentagon too said the balloon is carrying advanced sensors and surveillance equipment and is manoeuvrable, disputing the Chinese claim that it has limited steering ability. Indicating there’s no plan to take it down immediately, the Pentagon said the balloon may stay over the US for few more days, adding it posses no threat the people below ■ The row has further strained US-China ties. The White House slammed China for violating US sovereignty and Beijing hit back, accusing the US of using it as a pretext to attack China ■ Amid escalating tensions, Pentagon said it spotted a second high-altitude Chinese spy balloon flying over Latin America | P9 46K feet The height at which the balloon is floating over the U.S. CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Tax benefits off for funds to trusts named after the Gandhi family D i pa k M o nd a l @ New Delhi In another attack on the legacy of the Nehru-Gandhi family, the Finance Bill of the Budget 2023 introduced a provision that excludes donations to three trusts/foundations — the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust and Rajiv Gandhi Foundation — from the list of eligible funds for deductions under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. The government says that these trusts/foundations, which were automatically eligible for Section 80G benefit, will now have to come under the regular route for tax cut. “It has been observed that there are only three funds based on names of the persons in the said section (Sub-section 2 of Section 80G). In order to remove such funds, it is proposed Delhi court cites Gandhi, frees 11 in Jamia violence WITH THIS ISSUE to omit sub-clauses (ii), (iiic) and (iiid) of clause (a) of subsection (2) of section 80G of the Act,” the Finance Bill reads. Sub-clause (ii) mentions the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund; (iiic) the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust; and (iiid) the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. This amendment will come into effect from April 1, 2024. Currently 50% of the amount , donated to four funds — Prime Those three trusts are registered under section 12A, so they will have to come under the regular regime of 80G in the normal course - Nitin Gupta, CBDT chief Minister’s Drought Relief Fund apart from the three mentioned earlier — is eligible for income tax deductions under sub-section 2 of Section 80G. Talking to this newspaper, 1 st trans pregnancy? A transgender couple in Kerala announced pregnancy, in possibly the first such case in India Zahhad, who was undergoing hormone therapy to become a man, is now eight months pregnant Dissent needs to be given space; Sharjeel, others made scapegoats, says judgment agencies should be able to differentiate dissent and insurrecA Delhi court on Saturday quot- tion. “The desideratum is for ed Mahatma Gandhi to point the investigating agencies to out that dissent needs to be giv- discern the difference between en space, while discharging dissent and insurrection. The Sharjeel Imam, Safoora Zargar, latter has to be quelled indisAsif Iqbal Tanha, and putably. However, the eight others in a case former has to be given linked to violence at Jaspace, a forum, for dismia Millia Islamia in sent is perhaps reflecDecember 2019. tive of something which Sharjeel Imam, 35, a pricks a citizen’s conscholar and an activist, science,” he said. was one of the key pro“The subtext is explictagonists of a campaign it i.e. dissent has to be against the anti-Citizen- Sharjeel Imam encouraged not stifled. ship Amendment Act in However, the caveat is the prelude to violence ‘Long trial that the dissent should in Delhi in early 2020. not good’ be absolutely peaceful, The police had regisand should not degenerThe court tered multiple FIRs ate into violence,” read pointed out against him and others the 32-page order. under Unlawful Activi- that the long “Marshalling the facts trial of ties (Prevention) Act. as brought forth from persons Despite being cleared the per usal of the of all charges related to accused in the chargesheet and three case is not the 2019 Jamia violence, supplementary Sharjeel will remain in good for the chargesheets, this court jail since he is a defend- justice system cannot but arrive at the ant in the bigger conconclusion that the pospiracy case of the 2020 north- lice were unable to apprehend east Delhi riots. the actual perpetrators..., but In his order on Saturday, Ad- surely managed to rope the perditional Sessions Judge Arul sons herein as scapegoats.” Varma referred to Mahatma The liberty of protesting citiGandhi’s quote: “Conscience is zens should not have been lightthe source of dissent.” ly interfered with, the court’s The judge said investigating order stated. J a i s o n W i l s o n @ New Delhi Pastoral Postcards PLUS 12 PAGES express read Rebel YSRC MLA Kotamreddy booked Nellore: Vedayapalem police registered a case against YSRC rebel MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy and two others on charges of kidnapping a ruling party corporator. Based on a complaint by a corporator, a case was registered for house trespass and kidnap with a criminal intention | P4 K’taka polls: Pradhan gets BJP charge New Delhi: BJP Central leadership on Saturday appointed Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan as its in-charge for Karnataka Assembly elections. Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and TN BJP chief K Annamalai will be the co in-charges. N ER V ES O F S T EE L 16-yr-old’s scintillating knocks gets him gold at Silambam championship U s h a P e r i @ Visakhapatnam When Murali and Manasa saw their 6-year-old K Sravan Kumar practising Silambam 10 years back, little did they know that their son would make them proud by bringing home a bagful of medals. Sravan Kumar, who hails from Visakhapatnam, won a gold medal at the World Level Silambam Open Championship 2023 in Singapore, which was organised by the World Silambam Martial Arts Association last month. The sixteen-year-old said watching his grandfather practise Silambam borrowed his attention & motivated him to take up the Indian variant of martial arts. “My grandfather is my biggest inspiration. Despite practising it for the last 10 years, I have only worked with coach Srinivas for two years. He is the one who suggested me to participate in several regional and national events,” recalled Sravan. Securing a gold medal in the Asian Level Silambam K Sravan Kumar receiving gold medal at the World-Level Silambam Open Championship 2023 held in Singapore last month | Express Championship allowed Sravan to prove his skills at the international level. According to his parents, a rigourous four-hour training everyday is the secret sauce behind Sravan bagging world recognition. “He trains two hours each in the morning as well as in the evening. Children should actively participate in any sport to stay fit and healthy, both physically and mentally It also . helps them improve their concentration and academic performance. My family and I al- ways believed the same and encouraged Sravan,” said Murali and Manasa. “We barely knew that inspiration from his grandfather would help him win laurels internationally We will continue . to encourage Sravan at every stage of his life, while balancing academics equally,” the couple expressed. “I want to start a freestyle Silambam academy in future. Generally we get to fight in Si, lambam. I want to create a fusion of Indian, Chinese,” he stated. Zahhad and partner Ziya Paval initially tried to adopt a child, but found the process very difficult Zahhad (L) with partner Ziya Paval | Express chairman of the Central Board Direct Taxes Nitin Gupta said the three trusts would no longer be eligible for Section 80G benefits automatically . “How does a trust get 80G benefits? They get themselves registered under section 12A, seek the benefit of 80G registration and 80G (benefit) is granted. Those three trusts are already registered under section 12A, so they will have to come under the regular regime of 80G in the normal course with the approval of the commissioner,” Gupta explained. The move could become another flashpoint between the BJP government and the opposition Congress. Cong ress leader Jairam Ramesh told this newspaper they have not studied the matter yet, adding they will react on the issue in time. BJP-JSP alliance for 2024 polls hangs in the balance? Express News Service @ Vijayawada Is BJP having second thoughts on alliance with Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP) in Andhra Pradesh? Well, it appears so, if BJP State president Somu Veerraju’s comment is to be believed. When asked about alliance with JSP during a media briefing in Visakhapatnam on Saturday the BJP State chief , said, “Our alliance is with people and if Jana Sena comes, we will have an alliance for 2024 elections.” Remember, both the parties are currently having political alliance in the State. Those in know of things said that recent remarks of JSP president Pawan Kalyan, who seems to be getting closer to TDP, his erstwhile ally, might have made BJP State chief to make such comments. BJP, after its breaking alliance with TDP in the State, has been saying that it would maintain equal distance from both TDP and YSRC, which it described as family parties. “We will never join hands with them,” Somu Ve e r r a j u asserted. On the other hand, Pawan Kalyan, who has met TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu twice after the Visakhapatanam incident, where police had ‘detained’ him and had not allowed him to attend party programmes, has been looking for the repeat of 2014 magic, when TDP-BJP and JPS proved to be the winning P4 combination.  Vani Jairam found dead in Chennai home Su b a s h i n i V i j aya k um a r @ Chennai Days after she was conferred with India’s third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, playback singer Vani Jairam was found dead at her house in Chennai’s Nungambakkam on Saturday . The preliminary autopsy report suggested the 78-year-old had died after severe blood loss caused by falling and hitting her head on a table, police said. Her husband had died in 2018 and the couple did not have children. The final rites are ex- pected to be conducted on Sunday afternoon. The singer’s domestic staff Malarkodi told reporters she’d last seen Jairam on Friday night. Malarkodi arrived at the house for work around 10.30 am on Saturday and rang the doorbell. Hearing no response, she alerted her husband, the neighbours and Jairam’s sister who had a key to the house. When they opened the door with her sister’s key, Jairam was found dead in a pool of blood, a wound on her head. The police were informed and her body Academy in Kerala harassed: P T Usha E x p r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai TRACK legend and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president P T Usha on Saturday broke down during a small media briefing in New Delhi while describing the ordeal her Usha School of Athletics in Kinaloor near Kozhikode is going through. Intruders, she said, started some kind of construction in the middle of her academy on Friday. When the academy’s management confronted them, they misbehaved, she alleged. Usha claimed the workers said construction was being done after taking the Panangad panchayat’s permission. The work stopped after she complained to the police. She appealed to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan to address and resolve the issue. Usha reportedly said that this is not the first time her school and its staff were subjected to harassment. She said drug-addicts barge into the academy premises at night too. “We are being targeted continuously she said. ,” The Panangad panchayat denied the charges. “There is a human settlement near the academy and local residents need a road. The proposed road passes through the academy plot. We tried to find a solution, but it went in vain. Right now the panchayat is carrying out pipeline work for providing water to residents under the Jal Jeevan Mission. The academy is opposing it,” panchayat chief V M Kuttikrishnan said. Forensic team outside the home of the singer (inset) | Ashwin prasath was sent to the Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital in Omandurar government estate for post-mortem examination. Later a team of foren- sic experts visited the residence. “We have filed a case under Section 174 of the CrPC (suspicious death) after a preliminary investigation. We are awaiting the full post-mortem report,” said Shekhar Deshmukh, deputy commissioner of police, Triplicane. Meanwhile, well-wishers visited the house throughout the day, to pay their respects. Actor Y Gee Mahendran, who said he was a family friend of the singer since 1972 when she came to Chennai, said the country has lost a g reat talent.